Stepping Stones
by Ghildori
Summary: Shinichi goes on a date with Ran, and when the antidote runs out, he tries to run away, and she sees something she wasn't supposed to see. What is going to happen with their relationship? The battle against the BO? What about everyone else?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Hi there everyone! Thanks for reading my fanfic! This is my first one so please don't go hard on me!**

Chapter 1: Another Date

If anyone was staring, they would have thought that the boy running at a hurried pace and wearing a determined expression on his face wasn't much of an event, but if anyone knowing the not-child had seen him, they would have worried a bit. For he wasn't really a child, but the famous Kudo Shinchi, and he had an important task on mind.

Haibara Ai was on the sofa in the professor's house drinking tea when the door slammed open, revealing a panting Conan. Haibara, who thought the sudden banging of the door could only mean one thing, the Black Organization, was pretty mad when she saw it was only Conan. "What are you doing, slamming the door like that! I thought…"

She stopped talking immediately when she saw his face expression. It was of utter despair. That could only mean one thing…

"Did something happen with Ran?" she asked more quietly.

"Yes! She got assigned a blind date by Kogoro!" he answered in a frantic voice. Haibara couldn't help but snigger a bit. Again? "And she didn't say anything about it?"

"Well, of course she protested, but he wouldn't hear the end of it! He said that he already assigned it, and then begged her all the way to dinner last night, where she had to comply. She even said she will consider him!"

"And you didn't do anything about it?" Haibara asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I shot Kogoro my best glares and tried to distract them, but all in vain."

"So I am guessing that you want a temporary antidote, am I right?"

"Of course!" replied Conan enthusiastically, to which Haibara sighed.

"Alright then, but it might not work as long as 24 hours. With how often you take it, I am surprised it even still works." Haibara reflected on the past couple of months where Conan took the antidote (without her permission) because Sonoko tried to get Ran hooked up on a few guys. _Thrice. _The last time he took it, it only lasted 10 hours. She really didn't want to give it to him, but she couldn't help it. After all, she is the cause of his misery…

When she finished digging into her front pocket, she produced a small pill in her hand. Conan grabbed it and, running to the bathroom, said, "Thanks Haibara! Don't worry; I'm sure dates don't take all day. I'll tell you later how long it lasted for your research, okay? Thanks again!" Haibara watched him go with a nonchalant expression, but it changed into that of guilt when he was out of sight. "I'm sorry Kudo, for making you all this trouble." She whispered, and then began reading a nearby magazine.

Ran had been waiting at the restaurant which was their meeting place for 45 minutes now. What was taking him so long to come? Ran huffed as she started to imagine what kind of guy he must for making her wait like this. Definitely a guy with a rude and boisterous attitude, or a guy who didn't care to make a nice impression of himself. As she began entertaining herself with vivid descriptions, a bell tinged, announcing the arrival of a customer. The guy who walked in had a big cap on which covered all of his hair and eyes, a pair of jeans, and a yellow t-shirt with a green jacket. He seemed to be looking around for a moment, then spotted Ran and sat in front of her. Ran looked at this new arrival, and then decided he didn't look anything like what she was fantasizing. "A-ano, are you my date?" she asked rather timidly.

The guy crossed his arms over his chest and said, "Of course I am. Why else would I be here?" His voice is very deep and gruff, she noted. I wonder what his personality is like. "I am Mouri Ran. What is your name?" she asked politely.

"What my name is none of your business." He said curtly. Ran reeled back in shock. Who is this guy? Why is he so rude? As she pondered this, she heard a chuckle as the guy took off his hat. "Just kidding, Ran."

"SHINICHI!" Ran cried out loud, turning several heads and causing Shinichi to wince. "Jeeze Ran! Can't you keep it down?"

"What are you doing here, Shinichi?" Ran whispered, stretching out her hand as if to make sure he wasn't an illusion.

"I'm your date of course." he replied smirking. Actually, the real date was going to come but, after being cornered and threatened by an intimidating Shinichi, decided to go home peacefully. Of course, Shinichi took his place. But he wasn't going to tell her that…

"And how did you make that deep, gruff voice?" she asked again.

"Practice, Ran. Practice!" Actually, he had his voice-changing bowtie hidden under his shirt, but he _shouldn't_ tell her that…

And finally… "Why are you here, Shinichi?"

Shinichi looked uncomfortable for a minute, then said in a low voice, "I was able to get away from my big case, and I wanted to be with you…" he said the last part with a blush. Ran looked surprised for a minute, and then smiled at Shinichi. "Thank you, Shinichi."

They sat staring at each other, and would have done so for eternity if a waitress didn't come along and ask them what they would like. Ran and Shinichi snapped out of their moment and hastily ordered some tea. After they got their tea, they sat in front of each other in a slightly awkward state. After all, they haven't seen each other for a long time (or at least it seemed to Ran). Shinichi, not being able to stand the awkward situation, inquired, "So how is everyone?" Ran gladly took the question and launched into a full story. Shinichi could not help but feel an incredibly strong sense of guilt as Ran recounted in full detail. He already knew how everyone was doing; he just couldn't say it.

Shinichi listened with a heavy heart as Ran described a certain case that Sonoko "solved" and thought of how great it would be if he could just tell her his whole darn story. But, he thought, if she does know, then she would want to join in on this crazy adventure. He sighed inwardly. A detective's troubles never do end, do they?

After their talk in the restaurant, Ran almost literally dragged Shinichi to the mall. Although she did want to interrogate him on why he kept disappearing for large amounts of time (she still didn't really buy his "I'm on a case" excuse), she knew he won't tell her anyways, so she wanted to make the best of this time together.

"How does this look?" Ran asked.

Shinichi was by now almost wishing he had never come. But of course, he couldn't allow someone else to date Ran. Even if she never stopped looking at some boring clothes.

As Ran squealed at what seemed like the 20th dress, Shinichi felt a painful throb in his chest. _Oh come on! _He thought. _It hasn't even been four hours!_

"R-Ran." Shinichi choked out. Ran faced him and instantly started to worry.

"Shinichi! You're burning up!" Ran exclaimed. _Well, _she thought inwardly to herself. _I am not going to let you run away again._

Ran tried to grab his hand, but he dodged and ran away. "Shinichi! Shinichi come back!" Ran shouted and ran after him.

They kept on running until they made it right outside the mall. Both Ran and Shinichi were losing breath, but they were determined to reach their goals (or in Shinichi's case, lose his goal). Shinichi was hurting from the inside, and the pain clouded his vision just enough so that he didn't see the random brick at his feet. _Oh sh- _he thought just before he tripped and hit his head on the sidewalk, leaving him knocked out cold.

"Shinichi!" Ran cried as she reached him. What was she going to do now? Even with her mighty strength, she doubted if she can carry him all by herself to a nearby hospital. As she was considering the option of calling someone, she noticed something off. Was it her imagination, or was Shinichi…

_Shrinking?_

Yes, he definitely was! He was now just a bit shorter then her.

Ran rubbed her eyes and looked at him again, only to be greeted by a Shinichi who was now too small for his clothes.

Ran sat back in shock as she watched him grow smaller, and smaller, and smaller, until…

_Conan-kun?_

She nearly fainted herself when she saw the man she loved shrink before her eyes into the child she was taking care of. _So he really was Conan-kun?_

Ran snapped out of her daze and decided to take action. She took a quick scan of the area. No one was around. Good. She didn't want to explain what had just happened when she didn't quite get it herself.

Ran picked up the now small boy in her arms. _At least I can carry him now._

Ran walked home slowly. _For right now, I'll have to take care of him. Then, I am going to get a nice, full explanation from a certain shrunken detective…_

**Ho ho ho! A cliffhanger! Sorry if ya don't like cliffhangers, I'm pretty bad at choosing a stopping place.**

**Please write a review for me! I need some ideas beacuse I kind of jumped into making this without a proper story line... ^^U**

**If there is anything wrong so far, remember to tell me so I can fix it... and ya! Please keep reading! I promise it will get real interesting after this!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Some Quiet Discussions

Shinichi slowly blinked open his eyes. The first thing he saw was that he was back in Ran's house. He rolled over onto his other side and sighed. Here was another day of living as a little boy. How he wished he could tell Ran everythi-

Shinichi sat up quickly. Oh shoot! She did know!

What's more, he was Conan again.

_What am I going to do now?_ He groaned inwardly. He thought of how he had wished he could tell her everything, and now that the time was here, he felt more than a little nervous about it.

There were two things he was worried about. First of all, would she forgive him? Even if she loved him and everything, how do you forgive a 1 year long lie? Second of all, what will she do after she knows everything? Will she want to go after them with him? How in the world will he protect her if she wants to put herself in danger?

As Shinichi sat there pondering and with half a mind to jump out the window, Ran came into the room with a wet dishtowel in hand."Oh! Shinichi!" Ran cried while hurrying in. She threw her arms around him, which surprised him to the utmost degree. He had expected her to roundhouse kick him straight in the face, but maybe that was because he is a child at the moment. _Or,_ he thought hopefully. _Does she forgive me?"_

"R-Ran." he stated rather painfully. For some reason or another, his head hurt.

"Don't worry Shinichi." Ran said smiling. "No one saw you changing, and I won't question you until you're feeling better, okay?"

"Okay." He sighed. Why did she have to be so direct about the whole thing? And why is she talking to him as though he is a little kid? _Wait, I am a little kid. _Shinichi sighed again. I guess she couldn't help it.

Shinichi snuggled under the blankets as Ran tucked him in, and soon he was back to sleep.

What he didn't know was that as soon as she saw him go to sleep, the kindly expression on her face was replaced by a frown, and she calmly walked out the door.

Ran walked to a nearby alley where she had placed some cheap vases beforehand. Ran breathed softly and slowly as she raised one of the heavy vases up to her face. She looked at the surface of the vase and imagined the face of Kudo Shinichi staring back at her. Suddenly, with all the might of a karate champion, she threw the vase up in the air. As the vase made its descent, Ran kicked it precisely on the spot where the imagined face of Shinichi was, shattering the vase to dust. "I HATE YOU SHINICHI!" she screamed as her leg made contact.

Ran breathed heavily. That vase was very heavy after all. But, that had seemed to relive some of her stress. _Alright then, I will have to do this a couple more times, huh?_

Haibara walked down the street to where the Mouri house was. She had decided to see if things had turned out well. When she turned a corner and happened to look into a certain alleyway, she saw a furious Ran smashing vases midair while screaming for all she was worth. Haibara walked back home. _Well that wasn't a good idea…_

Shinichi woke up again to find a very sweaty Ran staring at him intently. "Now," she breathed. "Now can you tell me while I'm still calm?"

"Yes." Shinichi sighed while propping himself up. This really was an awkward situation. He had really hoped to be in his normal body and done with the BO when he finally confessed but that choice was out the window. "You see, it all started on that night in Tropical Land. Do you remember that?"

As Shinichi progressed with his story, he found himself living that night once again. It was such a big turning point in his life after all. How could anyone forget that? Shinichi was done with telling her what happened that night, but he didn't stop there. He kept going with telling her his current mission, the Black Organization, Agasa's involvement and inventions, the truth behind "sleeping Kogoro", and the true identity of Haibara. When he had finally stopped, he took a moment to study her facial expression. Up until now, he had been too afraid to look into her eyes, but now he wanted to know. His heart sank when he saw the void in her eyes.

_That definitely wasn't enough vases. _Ran thought to herself.

"So you have been keeping this information from me, for what reason?" Shinichi swallowed nervously. She isn't going to take this well. "I did it to protect you Ran."

Ran raised an eyebrow at this confession. "And how do you protect me with a child's body?"

Shinichi saw her hands clench into fists and gulped. "If they knew that Kudo Shinichi was still alive, they would come after everyone dear to him, and…" he trailed off blushing. "And that's why I haven't called too often. I'm really sorry Ran."

Ran took a deep breath, but that didn't stop her face from turning a shade darker as she asked him "And do you love me?"

"Huh?"

"From what I can tell, you either don't want me to be in the way of your work, or you truly care about me and want to protect me." Ran suddenly lunged forward and grasped Shinichi's small hands in her own. "Please tell me Shinichi! Which one is it? I can't stand being in the dark any longer! Please tell me, Kudo Shinichi!"

Shinichi was taken aback by her mannerism. He had expected her to show him some of her karate skills, or at least scream at him a bit. Not this sort of pleading that he was supposed to be doing. But he can't stall any longer. It was the time for his confession, the turning point in his life.

"I love you too, Mouri Ran."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Unwanted Intervention

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><p>Hey everyone! Happy Labor Day! Sorry if I made ya wait, since I was catching up on my much needed sleep.<p>

And ya, I figured out how to use this line insert thingy here.

So anyway, hope ya like my story! This is where Shinichi tries to keep Ran from remembering a certain scene in the hot tub ^^

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Detective Conan, and I never will.

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><p>As Mouri Kogoro got home from work, one could tell he wasn't very sober.<p>

"Heeeyyyy Rrrraaan!" he slurred. "Doo ya haave my d-(hic)dinner yet?"

"Dad!" Ran said standing up. "You got drunk again? Mou!"

Momentarily forgetting Shinichi, she helped her father to a chair and started yelling at him. Shinichi was slightly glad her dad had interrupted, since he was about to turn as red as a tomato. He walked off into his room, calling over his shoulder "I'm going to bed, okay Ran?"

"Fine fine! Just let me get this old man sober again!" she yelled, glaring at her father who didn't notice in the slightest bit.

Shinichi sighed and went to his bed. As he thought about all that happened to him, he couldn't help but wonder how he would be ending his day if that brick wasn't there. If he hadn't tripped and Ran never saw him changing, would he have been ending his day with this light of a heart? He had thought he would have a heavier heart if she ever found out, but with all those lies lifted off of him, he felt so light.

_I wonder if this was a good thing after all. _He thought before he fell asleep.

The next morning, Shinichi woke up to find a rather happy looking Kogoro bustling about. This was surprising, since not even Ran was awake yet, and he had just woken up to go to the toilet.

"Ne, ojji-san, why are you up so early?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Hmmph!" Kogoro snorted. "It's because I, the great detective Mouri Kogoro, was assigned a very big case (on some love affair) and has been paid 100,000 yen!"

"1-100,000!" Shinichi exclaimed. "That much?"

"Hmmph! Of course! Nothing less is expected for a mei-tantei! Bwahahaha!"

Shinichi sweat dropped at the old man. "And did you use it all for the beer you drank last night?"

Kogoro glared at the little boy before replying "Of course not! I only spent a portion of a portion of that money! Do you know where I am spending it next?" He asked with a devious grin.

"And where is that?"

"The hot tub! There is a new place downtown and they are having a grand opening to celebrate! I'm even in a good enough mood to drag you along, so you better behave! Also, tell Ran that we're going okay?"

"Wait. Hot tub…" Shinichi murmured to himself. Suddenly, he started panicking. "No wait! Don't take me to the hot tub!" he said. Kogoro was a bit shocked at how the boy was acting. Why was he so scared? He was fine the last time they…

The last time they were there. Kogoro smirked inwardly. "And why not?" he asked as though oblivious.

"Umm, uh, because…" he stuttered trying to think of an excuse, but before he could do so, Ran came out of her room rubbing her sleepy eyes. "Huh? What is all the commotion about? She asked.

"Ah, well, I was thinking of going to the ho-"

"Ah! Ran-neechan!" Shinichi exclaimed before Kogoro could finish. "I forgot to show you something!" and with that, Shinichi grabbed onto Ran's hand and dragged her back inside.

As Shinichi closed the door, Kogoro let his smirk show. It was obvious to him what was going on. That Conan was afraid of going to the hot tub because: he saw Ran naked! Kogoro wanted to laugh out loud. How hilarious! A little kid acting like that! Kogoro hummed as he got his things and headed for the hot tubs.

Shinichi was leaning against the door and listening whether or not Kogoro had left the house. When he heard the click of the front door, he sighed.

Ran was very curious as to what was going on, so when she heard the sigh of relief, she raised an eyebrow and said, "So what was that all about?"

"Nothing, absolutely nothing." He muttered back.

"If that was nothing, then why are you breathing a sigh of relief?"

"Okay, well actually, I think your father is getting suspicious of me." Of course that wasn't the reason; he didn't want Ran to remember that scene in the hot tub. If she did, he would definitely be dead.

"Really? Well, you know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think we should just tell him."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because first of all, he would kill me. Second of all, he might let it slip more easily than you. Third of all, he will be in immediate danger. Remember, the only reason I told you was because you found out yourself."

Ran wanted to argue with him (especially the part about "him slipping more easily than you"), but she knew it was true. "Well then, do you want me to lie to my own dad just like you did to me?"

Shinichi looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry."

Ran breathed slowly to calm herself. She felt herself aching to yell at him a bit, but she knew that would not help matters at all. No, she had to take control of herself. Shinichi must have been suffering too. Since he had been at it for over a year, she too must take control of herself so Shinichi will trust her with his battle against the BO. Yes, she will become strong just for him.

Ran looked at Shinichi and decided to ask him if he would trust her for that. _He has to. _She thought. _Or else he wouldn't have told me everything._

"Shinichi," Ran started. Shinichi looked back at her. "What is it Ran?"

"Shinichi, do you…" she started, but was interrupted by a loud knock on the front door.

"Who is it?" Shinichi called.

"Try to guess." replied a voice on the other side of the door.

Ran forgot about her present troubles as she heard her best friend's voice on the other side of the door. She smiled widely and opened the door to reveal a Happy Kazuha holding on tightly to the ear of a certain dark-skinned detective of the west. "Owch! Let me go, ahou!" he complained while squirming.

"Ran-chan! Exclaimed Kazuha happily. "We came to visit!"

"Oh! Come on in!"

Kazuha dragged Heiji into the room and said, "So what's up Ran?"

Heiji rubbed the sore spot on his ear and whispered, "Hey Kudo. I just got forced by this AHOU here to come and visit. Right when I had a cool murder case in my hands, to!"

"Who's the ahou?" yelled Kazuha, who apparently overheard the ahou part.

"Oh come on guys! Don't let's fight! So Kazuha, what did you come here for?" Ran interrupted before another full-blown fight erupted.

"Ah that!" replied Kazuha all happy again. "We were thinking of taking ya to shopping here! We heard that there was a grand opening somewhere in the mall!"

"Really? Let's go!"

Shinichi and Heiji groaned as they thought about their long day just up ahead. Shinichi felt even more grumpy since he had to go through a whole shopping spree with Ran yesterday! _Shopping for two days? How could this day get worse?_

A murder, of course.

When Ran and Kazuha had visited their third store, they heard a scream nearby. Shinichi and Heiji rushed to the source of the scream and saw the cash register lady panicking in front of a cold, still body. "The manager! The manager is dead!"

…

The end of the day found both detectives watching the arrest of a certain salesman they had met that day. Both Kazuha and Ran were in a depressing mood.

"Why does everyone we meet end up dying or becoming a murderer?" asked Kazuha tearfully.

Ran sighed as she thought of what her life would be in the future if she kept living with Shinichi. Gosh darn it, that would be scary!

Heiji shrugged and said, "Crime happens a lot, so you should stop getting all teary eyed over some poisoning case."

"What! Who said I'm crying?"

"I did!"

"You ahou!"

"Look who's calling me an ahou."

"Detective freak!"

"Shopping freak!"

"Stop it already!" Ran said, breaking up the argument. "Why don't we go somewhere else and relax?"

"Oh! I have a great idea!" Kazuha exclaimed, recovering quickly."I heard there is some grand opening at a nearby hot tub! Why don't we go there?"

"Ooh! A hot tub! That sounds like a grea-"

Ran suddenly turned her head slowly towards Shinichi, who was sweating visibility.

"_Conan-kun…"_

_Oh shi-_

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><p>DUM DUM DUMMM!<p>

Oh ho ho ho I am evil

So sorry if this seems a bit rushed, cause that is what I did- rushed.

Hope ya enjoyed my story! Next chapter is going to be interesting, for sure!

Until next time...

Ghildori


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Ran's Revenge

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><p>Sorry about the late update! Really! I haven't had much time these days (I think I only had an hour on this chapter) because of band. Argh I sometimes wish I hadn't joined, but then I would be very fat.<p>

So hope ya enjoy this chapter, since I made the best use of my hour to make an interesting story for ya. So enjoy!

* * *

><p>The car ride to the hot tubs was a quiet one (they were in a taxi). Conan (Shinichi) squirmed regularly. He was sitting in the back with Heiji, who wondered why Ran refused to sit next to Conan. There seemed to be a very disturbing mood in the air that Kazuha couldn't help but notice. Ran seemed to be ignoring Conan entirely while Conan tried to avoid Heiji's suspicious glance. Although she wondered what was going on, she decided it was best to leave it alone.<p>

When they finally arrived at the hot tubs, Kazuha suggested that they stay overnight. She knew that this would make the atmosphere more relaxed. Ran huffed out a reply while Heiji reluctantly agreed. Conan kept silent and fixated his gaze at the ground. _There is definitely something wrong here._ She thought.

Heiji finally dragged Conan away from the group to talk privately. "Oi Kudo! What is going on here?" he asked.

"Nothing, except Ran saw me change to my little self."

"WHAT! Oh geese, I knew this 'I'm going to stop the date' attitude would get ya in trouble. So how much did ya tell her?"

Conan shot him a glance. "Well, I told her about everything, except for the fact that I saw her in the HOT TUBS until YOU had to go and remind her!"

Heiji burst out laughing. "Ya mean she… Ahahahaha! Great job Kudo! Ya should have known it would bite ya in the butt sometime!"

"Ha ha ha. Now stop laughing and help me."

"Of course! Of course!" Heiji said, wiping a tear away. "Well, the way I see it, ya should just wait until she cools off. Then, ya could tell her how much ya love her!"

"I already did."

That stopped him short. Heiji just stood there mouth open at his sudden change of attitude. "Really! If it was you, I would have expected ya to keep it to yerself until the end of time."

"I could say the same to you." Conan replied coolly.

Twenty minutes later, after the Osakan had finished arguing with the shrunken teen, they headed back to the check-in desk, where they had left Ran and Kazuha. Looking around, they saw that they were nowhere to be seen.

"Excuse me nee-chan!" Conan asked the check-in lady. "Have you seen two dark-haired one-chan? They were here not too long ago."

"Ah, if you mean the two young ladies, they booked two rooms and told me to give this to you." With that she handed them their room key. "Hope you have a nice stay!"

"So she really is pissed." Heiji said, as they walked down the hall to their room. "I mean, separate rooms for her and Kazuha? Ya really need to let her cool down."

"I know, I know." Conan replied. "I just hope she never remembers anything else that is embarrassing."

Normally, Heiji would have teased Kudo into a rage, but he felt that he needed some lightening up, so he tried to comfort him. He later realized how awful he was at it.

"Come on Kudo. I'm sure she wouldn't stay mad too long. It's not like ya did that much, did ya?"

"Oh sure Hattori. I made her confide with me, left her waiting, turned her dad into a horrible person, bathed with her, kissed her, let her hold me, saw her in ridiculous outfits, and…"

Conan glared at Heiji who started shrieking with laughter. He stopped immediately when he saw the glare. _Well so much for comforting. I think I'll just stick with teasing._

When they were finally settled into their room, they got a call from Kazuha telling them to come over to the outside restaurant on level two. "Don't forget," she warned, "that you're paying for it!" and she hung up before he got a full protest through the phone.

"Darn that Kazuha! Always making me pay for stuff when she is the one who suggests these things!" he threw the phone onto its stand, where it bounced off and fell to the floor. Heiji looked at Conan, and found him deep in thought. He chuckled. "So Kudo, still trying to figure out a way out of this business?"

Conan sighed and nodded. "I just don't understand girls! They can forgive you for betraying them for a year and they can't forgive you for seeing them naked! What am I supposed to do? It's not like I saw her or anything. It was her fault for forcing me."

"And ya agreed when she asked ya again later? I think she remembers that."

"Oh, right."

When they arrived at the open restaurant, they saw that Ran and Kazuha were conversing with some unfamiliar people. "Oh! Conan-kun and Heiji! Meet Takami Misho and Kutaba Hina!"

The two people rose and greeted them. Misho was a guy in his early twenties with a small mustache. Hina was a woman around his age with soft black hair and tan skin. "Hi! You must be Conan-kun!" said Hina. "And the famous detective, Hattori Heiji!" she said, addressing Heiji.

"Uh, yeah! Uh, so who are ya?"

"Heiji!" Kazuha snapped and glared at him for being so rude.

"Oh don't worry! After all, we were the ones who intruded. Let me make a proper introduction. My name is Kutaba Hina, and I am a veterinarian. And this is Takami Misho, who is a teacher. We're getting married!" said Hina, grabbing Misho's arm and squeezing it tightly. Misho blushed slightly at his girlfriend's openness. "Sorry for intruding, but me and my girlfriend are into mysteries, and we identified Ran here as the daughter of Mr. Mouri Kogoro. We were overjoyed when we heard that the famous Osakan detective was here also."

"Yup! Sorry for intruding~"

All of them sweat dropped slightly at her openness, but they didn't mind. Kazuha asked them to dine with them, and so they ate at a big table. They learned a lot about these newcomers without too much trouble. Hina-san spilled it out.

"Actually, we were waiting for our friend, but he is more than 30 minutes late." Hina explained. "We just kept waiting, but he never showed up!"

"But shouldn't you keep waiting? I mean, he might just be coming late."

"Well it's his fault for not showing up! If he has the nerve to make us keep waiting, I say we ditch him!"

"Oh, is that so?" Ran replied, and gave a dangerous glance at Conan, who was sweating nervously. He was beginning to think of excusing himself when they all heard a loud scream from the direction of the bathrooms. Conan and Heiji sprung into immediate action and raced to the bathrooms. When they arrived, they were met with a horrifying sight. There, sprawled on the floor of the bathroom, was a dead body. A women (It was the girl's restroom o_O) was screaming at it. Conan stopped a man who was about to enter and said, "No one enter this bathroom! This man here was murdered! Someone call the cops!"

The man, who only wanted to see what the commotion was about (pervert!) was surprised to see a little kid yelling orders. However, upon hearing the word "murdered", he decided to take heed of his orders.

Conan looked at Heiji, who was putting his fingers on the victim's neck. Heiji looked up and shook his head. Conan cursed under his breath and began checking on the body.

When the police finally came, it was already 8:00 in the afternoon. Takagi and Sato had come. They took one look at Conan and Ran and started asking if they really were cursed. After they reassured them that they had never taken anything from a temple, they started filling them in on what happened.

"I see, so since there were only you guys and a couple of people in the restaurant, the suspects are very few. Furthermore, the deceased is Keiji Fuhara-san, who is the friend that Hina-chan and Misho-san were waiting for 30 minutes. Is that correct?"

"Yes," replied a very teary Hina-san. "We were waiting for him at about 6:50 to 7:20. Then we met Ran-chan and her friends at about 7:30."

"What were you doing during that 10 minute interval?"

"I was convincing Misho to ditch Keiji, and we started wandering around and looking for a table."

"I see. And Keiji-san died at approximately 6:00. May I ask what you were doing before 6:50?"

"Yes, we went to separate hot tubs."

"I see. That makes it so that everyone in this restaurant has an alibi except for you two, since no one can exactly testify who they saw in such a foggy climate."

"Are you saying you suspect us?"

"For the time being. No one is sure if anyone left this restaurant around 6:00, so we can't be sure."

"Oh."

Conan listened closely to the conversation and started to make mental notes to himself. Ran, suddenly realizing the concentrated expression on both tantei's faces, suddenly got an idea. She smirked, seeing how Heiji and Shinichi were both intent on the case. She knew what she was going to do.

She was going to expose Shinichi to Heiji.

* * *

><p>DUM DUM DUM! Again! Ran is going to "expose" Shinichi to Heiji! How will that work out?<p>

Next chapter! Ran's Revenge part 2! look foward to it!


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